Qantas celebrates staff and the 787 Dreamliner in its newly launched campaign via The Monkeys

Qantas has unveiled its latest marketing campaign via The Monkeys, celebrating its people and their efforts to bring the world closer using the newest addition to the national carrier's fleet, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The campaign is part of an ongoing series, profiling the stories of real Qantas people who are involved in the preparation and delivery of Qantas' Dreamliner; a pilot, an engineer, and cabin crew.

Qantas chief customer officer Olivia Wirth said the campaign celebrates the dawn of a new era led by the Dreamliner and the dedication of its people.

Says Wirth: "Customers have more options than ever when it comes to
travel, but it's our people's dedication and passion for what they do,
combined with our desire to innovate, that makes travellers want to fly
Qantas.

"This aircraft opens up new routes around the globe which
were previously unreachable, such as our nonstop Perth to London
service. While the Dreamliner will bring the world closer, we're keeping
safety, service, and a refined sense of comfort at the forefront of
everything we do.

"It was important to feature real Qantas people
as they offer an authentic passion and excitement for the arrival of
the 787 Dreamliner. The look on their faces when they see the Dreamliner
for the first time says it all."

The campaign profiles a pilot
whose curiosity for flying began while his mother worked at the airline
in the 1970's; an engineer's early passion for mechanics and aviation
started on a farm; and a flight attendant who immigrated to Australia at
a young age and is passionate about making people feel comfortable and
at home.

Says Ben Sampson, creative director, The Monkeys: "Being
able to show the human side of something as technologically advanced as
the new Qantas Dreamliner was a nice creative opportunity, and suited
the Qantas brand perfectly.

"They have such spirited people and
that was clear when we discovered the stories from three of their staff,
and experienced their excitement at being part of the Dreamliner
program."

The campaign will be launched on Sunday 22 October and
feature on TV, outdoor, digital and social media channels. Filming took
place in regional Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney and the Boeing facility
in Seattle, Washington.

Qantas' first Dreamliner will arrive in
Sydney on 20 October and will operate on selected domestic flights
before beginning services between Melbourne and Los Angeles from 15
December. Perth to London direct flights take off in March next year.

How does this bode with QANTAS' plan to offshore all maintenance less than 2 years ago? And the ultimate fallout from that?

When your company is an icon and you have internal staff issues, half your target market are the people on the ground making things happen. I can't see how any of them would respond well to this after Joyce's repeated calls to offshore maintenance.

Nothing wrong with this. Unsure it needed much planning as it’s an off-the-shelf strategic solution. Whoever did the casting probably deserved the biggest shout out as that looked like the only thing that took at least some effort. It will do its job. And that’s what’s important.

Testimonials using real people are all the rage but surprised the Monkeys lowered themselves to follow that formula for a brand like Qantas. And why do Qantas need an Agency like the Monkeys to make what is essentially a quite boring piece of content. Where have all the ideas gone?